Welcome to short story month! Twenty-five straight days of short stories, revolving in order! Check the DeGrassi Saviors website and my page for the calendar.

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Last chapter everyone enjoy!

Ch. 6 Fears That Once Controlled Me

(BIANCA)

"Hey what are you doing here?" Owen asks when he opens the door to his apartment. He's not angry that I'm here, just shocked really but also happy.

"Drew called," I reply stepping into the apartment.

"You came," Drew grins with relief. I see him and Owen but I don't see Clare, I left right after class and drove straight here took me 45 minutes.

"Yeah I came, fucking Vince how the fuck is he even out of prison? And where is Clare?"

"We tried to convince her to let us call Officer Turner and she freaked out. She started screaming and then passed out, we got her to drink some water but she just sort of shut down. I put her in Fitz's room to lie down we didn't know what else to do," Owen tells me just as we hear a key in the lock then the door opens and Fitz comes in.

"Hey B," Fitz smiles at me and then glares at my ex, "Drew," Fitz says with gritted teeth.

"Easy Fitz he brought Clare here, Vince is the one that raped her. Has been raping her and drugging her with heroine and we think GHB," Owen tell Fitz.

Fitz does calm down, actually he goes green, "Vince ra…drugs…where's Clare?"

"Your room," Owen replies and Fitz starts to walk to his room but Owen catches his arm. "Hang on she's really upset, she's been terrorized by Vince and his gang. He, or possibly they, raped her even this morning at the school, drugged her and raped her in the storage room. That's where Drew found her and he didn't know what to do so he brought her here. She's probably still coming down from the heroine they injected into her. She told us everything but she's shut down, she's really traumatized and I don't know how she'll react to you going in there. We tried to get her to go to the cops, to let us call Officer Turner but she just freaked out, she wouldn't let Drew or even let me touch her but calmed down slightly when I suggested she go lie down in your room."

"Come on Fitz I'll go with you, she probably won't freak out so much if she sees me first," I tell Fitz.

Owen lets go of his arm and I lead the way into Fitz's room. Clare lies in a fetal position, she's sobbing quietly but sobbing hard enough that it shakes her body. I can see in his face and his body language how Fitz wants to just run over and hold her but I doubt that will do her any good right now. I make him wait at the door and I walk over sitting on the bed, I don't touch her yet just sit on the bed and let her know I'm there.

"Clare it's Bianca and Fitz," I tell her in a soft gentle voice, "do you need anything? You should probably drink some more water."

I grab the water glass from the nightstand and she sits up a little. She starts taking a few timid sips of water and I brush her hair back from her face. You can see how much she's been crying, how pale she is either due to the drugs or the crying or maybe just everything. What's truly heartbreaking however is her eyes, so much pain and fear are clouding her usually bright crystal blue eyes.

"It's Vince," she whispers mostly into her glass.

"I know Drew and Owen told us, why don't you take a nice hot shower?"

Clare looks at the glass and bites her lip a little, before nodding. I take her hand and help her up, we walk through the living room back to the washroom. I close the door and turn the water on for her.

"He said I was going to be the new Bianca, he wanted me to. I tried to stay away but he sent people to watch me. The others did what he said, all but Zig and Tiny," Clare tells me in tears as we wait for the water to heat up.

"Vince is an asshole who likes to control people, making people afraid is all he's ever done. You're safe now, he can't get you here and we'll make sure he can never get you again," I assure her.

"We can't go to the cops, he said he'd hurt Adam he wants to hurt Drew. I've been keeping him from doing anything but if we go to the cops…"

"We'll make sure everyone is safe I promise, Drew included. I'm leaving the door unlocked but only so I can come check on you okay?"

Clare nods and I close the door, I lean against the wall and close my eyes fighting the tears back. I feel a hand on my arm and I open my eyes locking them with the deep blue eyes of my ex.

"She did exactly what I did, well maybe not exactly but close enough. He wanted her to be the new Bianca and as hard as she tried to fight it she still did. She didn't sell drugs or anything and he forced her to take drugs and raped her, she thought she was doing it to protect everyone," I tell Drew quietly.

"I know," he nods bringing me into his arms and I feel a great sense of comfort in them. "I told her I wouldn't be a rebound, I let her run out and right into Vince's claws. Then he threatened me and Adam and she's been too afraid to go to the cops because she was sure she was protecting us. Now she's scared, so scared I don't think she can think rationally anymore."

"Rational or not she has a point, we know Vince is not above coming after people. We need to make sure Adam is safe, Dallas should be going home after school. She also mentioned Zig and Tiny maybe they can go to your house? At least for a while," I comment.

"Yeah and school will be out soon," Drew says looking at his phone. He lets go of me just a little and looks at the other two. "Hey I'm going to run the car back to Adam, have him and Dallas take Zig and Tiny with them to my house just to be safe," Drew says to Owen.

"Zig is the one that first called me but what does he have to do with all this?" Owen inquires.

"I think he and Tiny are in Vince's gang but he helped her," I inform them.

"Zig lives with Maya, pretty sure Vince knows we've been here. I'll go with you and grab Tris and Maya, can they hang at your place? At least until my parents are home and then they can go there?"

"Yeah of course," Drew nods.

"I'll go with you guys, Fitz stay here with Clare. I'm just going to tell her we're leaving and that we'll be back soon," I tell the boys and go back into the washroom. "Fitz will be with here with you, Drew, Owen and I will be right back. We're just going to make sure the others are safe okay?"

"Okay," she says from the floor of the shower where she's sitting. Owen, Drew and I leave the apartment, I ride with Drew and Owen follows in his car.

"What happened with me and Clare, it was a mistake," Drew says after we've been driving a couple of minutes. "Actually it never should have happened," he adds before I can speak.

"You're telling me you didn't want to sleep with Clare?"

"Of course I did…well that is…what I meant was…" Drew pauses to collect his thoughts. "I like Clare and I won't deny we shared feelings. I know she felt them too and it was," Drew pauses whistling a breathing out to express how great sex with Clare was, "great better than that. Thing is when Dallas told me I was Clare's rebound I listened. It made sense in the moment, she had just broken up with Eli and she told him I had nothing to do with their breakup. I was also trying to replace you, not that you and Clare have much in common but a lot of what Drew me to Clare are things I love about you. I should have realized this; I should have stayed her friend and called you, talked to you. Instead I shared one really great time with Clare, ruined the friendship that we had and she was so upset she ran out and Vince found her at her most vulnerable."

"You can't change it now and hindsight is always 20/20. Make it up to her, show her that you still care and be there for her now when she needs you the most and maybe your friendship won't be ruined," I tell Drew just as we pull up to DeGrassi.

Adam's just coming out to the steps and Drew gets out of the car just as Owen parks. Owen and I get out of the cars and Adam sees us all and begins walking over to us.

"Hey Bianca good to see you," Adam says slowly but with a smile. "Where in the hell have you been?" Adam asks his brother.

"Helping Clare," Drew replies.

"Clare where is she?"

"She's at my place, Fitz is with her," Owen informs him.

"Maya, Tris, Zig and Tiny are going to come over until Owen's parents get home," Drew tells Adam.

"Okay why?" Adam inquires.

"Because Vince is out of jail and he's been terrorizing Clare since the hoedown," Drew says.

"He what? How could he be out of prison after everything? What do you mean he's been terrorizing her? You mean she wasn't acting weird because of you?" Adam asks all at once.

"I'll explain later, we have to get back there but Vince threatened you and me and some others which is why everyone is going to our place," Drew tells him.

"Zig you're in a gang?! Why didn't you tell me you were in a gang?" Maya exclaims she's walking over with Zig, Tiny, Tris and Owen; he must have gone to get them while we were talking to Adam.

"It's complicated Maya," Zig replies.

"It always is with you," she shakes her head.

"I'll drive them over you guys take Adam, where is Dallas?" Owen questions.

"Said something about going out with Alli," Adam shrugs.

"Okay you all stay at our house with doors locked and if anyone sees Vince or one of his gang call the cops immediately," Drew insists. We all get into the two cars and start driving to Drew and Adam's.

"How badly did Vince hurt Clare?" Adam questions as Drew pulls out of the DeGrassi parking lot.

"Bad, very bad the kind of bad she might never recover from."

(FITZ)

When the others leave I grab a fresh towel from the closet and knock softly on the washroom door.

"Clare it's just me, I brought you a towel can I come in?" I call through the door. When she doesn't answer I open it slowly and see her huddled on the floor of the tub. I walk over and feel the water it's no longer warm so I turn it off putting the towel around Clare's shoulders. "Come on you need to get out, you're going to freeze," I tell her lifting her up. She lets me pick her up but quickly covers herself with the towel. Her eyes are sort of hallow it's like she's been turned off. Now that she's revealed what she's been going through, what Vince has been putting her through it's like she's checked out.

I grab Owen's robe from the hook on the door and put it around Clare. She still isn't moving so I pick her up and take her to my room. She's almost comatose she's hardly reacting to anything. I can see and feel how she's lost weight since she first stayed the night here.

"I don't feel so good," she says in a voice that's half pleading and half whining. She's sweating and shaking a little, I doubt it's all from the shower turning cold.

"Yeah you're probably coming down still," I tell her going to my dresser and getting out a pair of sweats and a t-shirt for her. "Here you can put these on. Lie down and I'll get you some more water. You'll sleep here tonight in my bed like before."

"Don't let Vince get me again, I can't…not again…" she pleads sobbing and gripping me.

"He won't Clare not again, not ever again I promise," I assure her.

After a moment she lets go of me and grabs the t-shirt so I leave the room to allow her privacy to change. I get her a new glass of water and wait a few moments until I'm sure she's changed. I knock on the door softly and she says to come in. She's wearing my t-shirt and sweats and also putting Owen's robe back on.

"They other's should be back soon do you want to lie down in here for a while?" I ask her handing her the glass of water.

"Yes but will you sit with me?"

I simply smile and sit on the bed, she drinks down the water and lies down, her back is to me and she's curled up but at least she's not crying anymore. She is silent though and she stays silent for the whole time we're in there, it's about half an hour before the others return. When I hear the front door open I cautiously put my hand on Clare's arm.

"Owen, Bianca and Drew are back you want to go sit in the living room?"

She doesn't say anything but she does get up walking out to the living room. I follow and when Clare sits in the arm chair I sit on the sofa.

"Is Adam safe? Are you sure they're safe?" Clare asks.

"Yes they're safe they're all at my house. Adam, Zig, Tris, Tiny and Maya and they'll stay there until Owen's parents are home. If they see Vince or anyone from his gang they'll call the cops," Drew assures her.

"If they call the cops Vince will…"

"He'll be arrested Clare. You need to tell the cops what happened, Vince will go to jail," Owen asserts.

"No," Clare shakes her head.

"Clare we'll make sure he can't hurt anyone, including you but he won't go to jail if you don't tell the cops what happened, his gang won't testify against him," Bianca tells her in a firm voice.

"I don't want him to hurt me anymore, I can't take it anymore," Clare begs with tears in her eyes.

"He won't not if he's in jail. Drew is going to call Officer Turner okay? He can come get your statement or bring an officer that can," Bianca says and Clare nods slightly.

Drew calls Turner but Clare refuses to go the police station so Turner says he'll bring a detective from violent crimes. We make Clare drink some water while we wait for the cops, it doesn't take long for them to get here. Turner comes in with a female detective they sit down and Clare repeats her whole story, Drew and Owen have already heard it but me and Bianca haven't. When I think about the worst can happen to her it pales to what really happened. Being repeatedly raped, drugged and kept afraid so that she's practically brain washed. She was raped last night and again this morning at the school. After her statement Turner calls in an arrest warrant for Vince and several members of his gang, excluding Zig and Tiny.

The female detective convinces Clare to go to the hospital and have her injuries photographed but Clare wants all of us to go with her. While we go with the female detective to the hospital Turner will go to Drew's house and get statements from Zig and Tiny to corroborate Clare's statement. We drive over in Owen's car; Clare sits up front, Bianca in the back, in the middle between me and Drew. The detective follows in her car but calls ahead to the hospital to tell them we're coming. Clare is brought through the main entrance and taken to an exam room, a female doctor gets pictures of all of Clare's injuries and even though Clare insists it will do them no good she gets a rape kit as well. We weren't in the room with her we were in the waiting room.

"Wait I have more evidence, the day after it happened I went to a clinic and was diagnosed with trichomoniasis. I had to get it from one of them, although none of them got tested but I could think okay, as traumatized as I was. I collected evidence; it's in a bag in the freezer at my house. I don't know how much help it will be, they may have worn condoms I don't remember anything," Clare tells the detective when she comes out of the room.

"No that's great Clare I'm sure it will be very useful. Is anyone at your house I can go there and collect it?"

"What time is it?" Clare asks.

"A little after six," I tell her.

"My stepdad will be home, possibly my mom too. They don't know any of this."

"That's alright I can tell them and I'll tell them that you're staying with friends tonight."

Clare nods and we go back to Owen's car, the five of us returning to mine and Owen's apartment. We all go upstairs and Clare sits back in the armchair.

"I should probably get home, I'll umm stop by tomorrow Fitz said you were sleeping here," Drew tells her.

"I'll sleep here too, call in sick tomorrow," Bianca says.

"Drew make sure they're safe, Adam and everyone tell me they're safe," Clare requests.

"I will," he replies and quietly leaves the apartment.

Owen puts in a frozen pizza in the oven, Clare doesn't eat anything and the rest of us eat very little. Clare's mom called while the pizza was baking but Clare didn't answer, after the third time her called Bianca answered and said that Clare was sleeping at her place and she was safe but traumatized and didn't want to talk. Drew called Owen's phone and told Clare that Adam and everyone was safe. Maya and Zig would both be sleeping at Tristan's house. Then Turner called and said that Vince and three other gang members had been arrested and were in custody.

"I want to go to bed," Clare says after we hang up with Turner.

"Okay," I nod.

"Could you maybe sleep on the floor?" She asks me.

"Yeah if that's what you want," I nod.

"Yes I feel safer when you're around," she replies and I smile the fact that she feels safe with me makes me happy.

"Well if he's sleeping in there with you I'll take the sofa. Sleep well kids," Bianca says.

Owen says goodnight and we go into my room. Clare's been wearing my t-shirt, sweats and Owen's robe this whole time but now she takes off the robe and gets into my bed. I make a bed on the floor of blankets and spare pillows.

"That was smart, what you did collecting the evidence that first day," I tell her as I turn off the light and lie in the makeshift bed on the floor.

"I could think better then, I was still scared but I hadn't been so conditioned at the time. I wanted him to be caught even though I wasn't sure I'd ever report the rape. The thing with Asher didn't exactly turn out well it was laughed out of court pretty much," Clare comments. I'm not really sure who Asher is but I'm betting she doesn't want to talk about it right now.

"It was really brave and smart none the less, not everyone would have been able to think to do that after what you'd been through."

"Fitz?" She ventures after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah?"

"Will you hold me?"

"Are you sure? I don't want to scare you, I mean I don't want you to feel Vince and not me or something," I remark.

"I'm sure I told you I feel safe with you," she says.

I'm not going to question it again so I get up and go to the bed. Clare moves over and I get in lying on my side, she's on her side facing me and cradled into me. She starts to cry, not heavy sobs just light and silent crying against my chest. It's sort of relieved crying, relief that her nightmare is drawing to an end. I don't know what to say so I just run her back and after a short time she falls asleep.

"I won't let Vince hurt you ever again, I'll protect you I promise," I assure her kissing her forehead lightly.

I lie awake for a very long time watching her sleep until I finally sleep myself.

(CLARE)

"The sentencing is at three, I'll pick you up and we'll go straight to the courthouse," Mom says when she drops me at school.

"I know Mom Drew and Adam are coming too, Bianca's driving down she'll give them a ride and Fitz and Owen are bringing Zig and Tiny," I remind her as I get out of the car.

It's been two months Drew found me in the storage room and he and Owen finally forced me to tell them everything. Next week is our March break and I'll be spending most of mine either with Adam or with Fitz who has officially been my boyfriend for three days now. After that night heh held me in bed I began spending more and more time at Fitz and Owen's place. I felt safe with him always, began to have feelings for him but he didn't want to rush things so we've been deepening our friendship and making sure our feeling were genuine. He's been there for me through each trial, each testimony, each time I cried out of pain, frustration of fear. He never complained, never pushed and always did anything I asked without question. When he finally talked about a relationship and brought up the fact that he did want to be my boyfriend I told him I was ready.

We're not the only happy relationship to come out of this nightmare either, Zig and Maya have been dating almost two months now. Even better Drew and Bianca are back together, not re-engaged only dating but they're both very happy. They see each other every weekend, sometimes Drew goes to Waterloo but most often Bianca comes home, she and I have become quite close. Zig and Tiny are out of the gang since it's dissolved. Most of the gang members were tried together and each got a sentence of at least two years and some as many as seven. Their charges ranged from distributing illegal narcotics to aggravated assault. Vince was tried separately and he had a whole slew of charges including multiple rape accounts. With my evidence and testimony along with Zig and Tiny's testimony and Vince's prior convictions there wasn't much Vince could do. They were all tried in bench trials which helped to expedite them. Today he gets sentenced and I pray it will be a long one. It will be another step on the road to healing, I've taken a few but it's a long road. Vince's arrest and the trial barely made it into the papers so there were very few rumors at school.

"Hey Clare," Adam smiles when I get up to the steps joining him and Drew.

"Morning Adam, morning Drew," I smile back.

"Hey Clare," he grins.

After I found a bit of my sanity again Drew and I had a very long talk. It was a talk we probably should have had months ago. We talked about our feelings for each other, about what had been building all of last semester and the holes each of us were trying to fill. He told me it was Dallas that put the idea in his head that he was a rebound. We talked for over two hours, he apologized, I apologized and in the end we came out as friends again. He's happy with Bianca again and I'm happy with Fitz, Adam is very happy that Drew and I are speaking again.

"Mom wants to have a celebratory BBQ tonight if you're up for it," Adam tells me.

"Yeah that sounds good, hopefully there will be something to celebrate," I reply.

"Don't worry, no way Vince gets less time than any of the gang members," Drew says.

I smile and we walk into school, the day seems to take forever but it's probably just that I'm anticipating Vince's sentencing this afternoon. When school is out Mom is here to pick me up. She brought me a change of clothes of course even though the hearing will take less than an hour. I change in the washroom at the courthouse and then we go into the courtroom. Drew, Bianca and Adam get here after a few minutes, Owen, Fitz, Maya, Zig and Tiny arrive a moment later. We all sit together, Fitz next to me and when Vince is led in I squeeze Fitz's hand. The judge enters and when we're all seated she speaks.

"Vincent Bell you have been found guilty of three counts of aggravated sexual assault, four counts of aggravated assault, three accounts of distributing illegal substances. Given your past history of violence and breaking the law, along with the harrowing testimony of Miss Edwards I sentence you to the maximum sentence. You are hereby sentenced to twenty five years in maximum security. Bailiff please escort Mr. Bell out of this courtroom," the judge says.

As Fitz is being led out I smile turning to Fitz and letting out a relieved breath, he hugs me tightly and everyone else is cheering. We take a few minutes celebrating Fitz's incarceration. I won't be here in 25 years, I still plan on attending Columbia next fall and I've already applied. When we leave the courtroom Mom goes home, I ride with Drew, Bianca, Adam and Fitz back to the Torres house for the BBQ. Owen is going to pick up Tris before going to the Torres house for the BBQ. We greet Audra and Omar when we arrive, Omar is already cooking. We tell them the good news about Vince's sentence. As people begin to get settled Fitz pulls me away a quiet corner of the yard.

"I see it you know," he comments sitting on a retaining wall and setting me in his lap, "that weight that's come off your shoulders."

"Vince and his gang in prison, everyone is sage and I'm happy again. There's still a lot of healing to do but I'm happy. I feel like my life is coming together again," I smile.

"Your life is going to be amazing and this is just the beginning," Fitz grins.

I smile a little bigger and then capture his lips with mine for a wonderfully blissful kiss.

That does it for this story thanks for sharing the ride with me. Replacing this will be The Best Thing You've Never Had.